The present invention relates generally to closures such as liftgates for vehicles and, more particularly, to a wedge system for a liftgate of a vehicle.
It is known to provide vehicles such as sports utility vehicles or minivans with a closure such as a liftgate attached to a longitudinal end of the vehicle for access to an occupant compartment of the vehicle. The liftgate is typically hinged to vehicle structure such as a vehicle body of the vehicle with at least one, preferably a pair of laterally spaced hinges to allow pivotal movement of the liftgate. The liftgate typically includes a latching mechanism to secure the liftgate to the vehicle body when closed.
The liftgate has multiple functional requirements such as structural integrity, optimal closing and opening efforts, sealing, etc. These requirements are dependent on geometry of the liftgate, material properties, and hardware such as gas struts and wedges. Among the hardware used in the liftgate is a wedge. The wedge is a relatively small piece of elastomer, metal, or plastic attached to the side of the liftgate.
The wedge has to meet three requirements. One of these requirements is stabilization of the liftgate, especially in preventing the liftgate from traveling cross-vehicle, fore/aft, and vertically during various vehicle body twist frequency sweeps of the vehicle, by providing a load path from the liftgate to a frame of the vehicle body. Another requirement is to minimize the closing effort increase of the liftgate due to the reaction force in the swing-line direction. Yet another requirement is to accommodate the gap and flushness variation between the liftgate and vehicle body due to manufacturing and assembly.
One attempt at meeting the above requirements is to use a rubber block type wedge. In these vehicles, a rubber block is located in the gap between the liftgate and the vehicle body. However, this type of wedge significantly increases the closing effort of the liftgate and is hard to adjust to accommodate the gap variation.
Another attempt at stabilizing the liftgate is to use a spring loaded plastic bumper on each side of the liftgate, which would, in turn, mate with rubber stop pads. However, these bumpers and pads only provide cross-vehicle stabilization to prevent the liftgate from being excited beyond its own natural frequency into a state of impending motion. These bumpers and pads also require overslam bumpers to control movement in the fore/aft and up/down directions of the vehicle.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a wedge system for a liftgate of a vehicle that stabilizes the liftgate. It is also desirable to provide a wedge system for a liftgate of a vehicle that is adjustable to accommodate the gap and flushness variation between the liftgate and the vehicle body. It is further desirable to provide a wedge system for a liftgate of a vehicle that minimizes the closing effort increase of the liftgate due to the reaction force in the swing-line direction. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a wedge system for a liftgate of a vehicle that meets these desires.
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a wedge system for stabilizing a liftgate of a vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wedge system for stabilizing a liftgate of a vehicle to reduce cross-vehicle, fore/aft, and vertical movement of the liftgate.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a wedge system for stabilizing a liftgate of a vehicle that is able to fit into tight packaging areas.
To achieve the foregoing objects, the present invention is a wedge system for stabilizing a liftgate of a vehicle relative to vehicle structure of the vehicle when in a closed position. The wedge system includes a first member for mounting on one of the liftgate and the vehicle structure and a second member for mounting on the other of the liftgate and the vehicle structure. The wedge system includes a third member disposed between the first member and the second member and being movable and adjustable relative thereto to accommodate a gap between the liftgate and the vehicle structure and to stabilize the liftgate by providing a load path from the liftgate to the vehicle structure when the liftgate is in a closed position.
One advantage of the present invention is that a wedge system is provided for stabilizing a liftgate of a vehicle. Another advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system is adjustable and uses a finger tight ratchet to accommodate gap variation for a liftgate of the vehicle. Another advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system minimizes squeak and rattle noise due to the vibration of the liftgate while the closing effort is not increased regardless of the gap variation. Another advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system has an adjustment time that is almost negligible to the assembly line speed. Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system is able to fit into tight packaging areas of the vehicle. Still another advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system reduces cross-vehicle movement of the liftgate. A further advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system reduces fore/aft liftgate chucking of a latch/striker combination for the liftgate. Yet a further advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system reduces vertical displacement of the liftgate. Still a further advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system is an effective integrated three-piece system without the aid of mechanical parts. Another advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system increases the stability of the liftgate without compromising the closing effort and accommodates build variation without slowing down the assembly line. Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the wedge system eliminates overslam bumpers and is modular to be used across a variety of vehicles.